Bette Davis

Bette Davis Biography

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Ruth Elizabeth Davis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on April 5th 1908 to parents Ruth Favor and Harlow Davis.

Her parents were separated before her 10th birthday, but Bette's mother, Ruth worked hard to pay for her daughter's education at private schools. Bette attended the John Murray Anderson School of Theatre and started her Broadway career with a roll in "Little Dishes". After being spotted by a scout from Universal Studios, Bette went to Hollywood for a screentest. After six films, her contract with Universal was not renewed. Bette was about to return to Broadway, when she got a call from Warner Brothers Studio, and was offered a seven-year contract. Although Bette made some of her best films with Warner Brothers, she was initially unhappy with the "mediocre" parts that she was offered and went to court to get out of the contract. After the court battle, which she lost, she was offered an improved contract and better movie roles.

Nominated Ten times for an Academy Award, she won the Best Actress Award twice, for Dangerous" in 1935 and "Jezebel" in 1938.

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Bette was also awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal in 1980, the Defense Department's highest civilian award, for running the Hollywood Canteen.

Just before her tenth birthday, Bette's father, Harlow, left the family. Although she had little money, her mother, Ruthie, sent Bette and her sister to boarding school. Upon graduating Cushing Academy, Bette enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School. In 1929, she made her Broadway debut in "Broken Dishes." She also landed a role in "Solid South." In 1930, she moved to Hollywood to screen test for Universal.

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Bette Davis Filmography

1931      The Bad Sister
1931      Seed
1931      Waterloo Bridge
1932      Way Back Home
1932      The Menace
1932      Hell's House
1932      The Man Who Played God
1932      So Big!
1932      The Rich Are Always with Us
1932      The Dark Horse
1932      The Cabin in the Cotton
1932      Three on a Match
1932      20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1933      Just Around the Corner (promotional short film)
1933      Parachute Jumper
1933      The Working Man
1933      Ex-Lady
1933      Bureau of Missing Persons
1934      The Big Shakedown
1934       Fashions of 1934
1934      Jimmy the Gent
1934      Fog Over Frisco
1934      Of Human Bondage
1934      Housewife
1935      Bordertown
1935      The Girl from 10th Avenue
1935      Front Page Woman
1935      Special Agent
1935      Dangerous
1936      The Petrified Forest
1936      The Golden Arrow
1936      Satan Met a Lady
1937      Marked Woman
1937      Kid Galahad
1937      That Certain Woman
1937      It's Love I'm After
1938      Jezebel
1938       The Sisters
1939      Dark Victory
1939      Juarez
1939      The Old Maid
1939      The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1940      All This, and Heaven Too
1940      The Letter
1941      The Great Lie
1941      Shining Victory (uncredited cameo role)
1941      The Bride Came C.O.D.
1941      The Little Foxes
1942      The Man Who Came to Dinner
1942      In This Our Life
1942      Now, Voyager
1943      Watch on the Rhine
1943      Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943      Old Acquaintance
1944      Mr. Skeffington
1944      Hollywood Canteen
1945      The Corn Is Green
1946      A Stolen Life
1946      Deception
1948      Winter Meeting
1948      June Bride
1949      Beyond the Forest
1950      All About Eve
1951      Payment on Demand
1952      Another Man's Poison
1952      Phone Call from a Stranger
1952      The Star
1955      The Virgin Queen
1956      The Catered Affair
1956      Storm Center
1959      John Paul Jones
1959      The Scapegoat
1961      Pocketful of Miracles
1962      What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1963      The Empty Canvas
1964      Dead Ringer
1964      Where Love Has Gone
1964      Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1965      The Nanny
1968      The Anniversary
1970      Connecting Rooms
1971      Bunny O'Hare
1972      The Scientific Cardplayer
1976      Burnt Offerings
1978       Return from Witch Mountain
1978      Death on the Nile
1978      The Children of Sanchez
1980      The Watcher in the Woods
1987      The Whales of August
1989      Wicked Stepmother

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